The Art of AIDS

BY Benjamin Ryan

November 18 2010 5:00 AM ET

At the end of the day Van Cook is a dyed-in-the-wool
social activist but “always with a twist, if possible,” she says. “I’ve
always tried to keep a fabulous edge to it!” After reading recently
released data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
on the high prevalence of HIV among urban gay men, she felt the age-old
call to action.

“I’m horrified. It’s terrifying,” she says. “I
feel personally delinquent. I should’ve been back out in the trenches.
I’m already thinking, What’s the slogan that goes on the street now?”